ABLE started with research
We built it on a scale with tested reliability and validity, so founders can take an honest look at themselves.
Study on measuring entrepreneurial competency (Kim and Shin 2025) | Presented at the 2025 Spring Conference of The Korea Entrepreneurship Society
01
Why we built it
Startup research has mostly looked at outside factors such as support programs and policy. Validated tools for measuring what goes on inside founders, their strengths and their struggles, were hard to find.
02
Built in three steps
Study 1 | 255 people
1Listen
We asked 255 people in their 20s to 60s to write about starting a business, then grouped the words that came up most into four areas.
Expert review
2Write the items
Two PhDs and two master's-level researchers reviewed the content and wrote 10 items per area, 40 in total.
Study 2 | 253 people
3Test
A different group of 253 employees answered the items, and factor analysis settled the final 39.
Words that came up most
- Abilityskills, planning, ideas, opportunity
- Burdenhassle, stress, putting things off, discomfort
- Lonelinesslonely, isolated, on my own, no one to ask
- Executionact, right away, doing, immediately
03
How the 253 people were chosen
We used stratified random sampling of employees aged 20 to 69 living in Korea. They were different people from Step 1, which reduces the effect of getting used to the same questions.
Gender
- Men63% | 160
- Women37% | 93
Age
- 20s2% | 6
- 30s32% | 80
- 40s37% | 93
- 50s28% | 71
- 60s1% | 3
Where they live
- Seoul32% | 80
- Gyeonggi25% | 63
- Incheon8% | 19
- Other regions36% | 91
Startup experience
- None72% | 181
- Yes28% | 72
04
The four areas separated cleanly
The 40 items fell neatly into four groups. One item whose link to its group (loading) was below the .5 threshold (.48) was removed, leaving 39.
40 items39 items
05
It measures consistently
Reliability (Cronbach's alpha) shows whether the items in each area consistently measure the same thing. Values of .70 or higher are usually considered good.
- Ability
- .95
- Burden
- .92
- Loneliness
- .93
- Execution
- .93
06
The four-area structure fits the answers
Confirmatory factor analysis checked whether the four-area structure matches real answers. The main indices met recommended thresholds.
See the numbers
| Index | Value | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| χ²/df | 1.97 | 3 or lower |
| RMSEA | .062 | .08 or lower (acceptable) |
| CFI | .907 | .90 or higher |
| TLI | .901 | .90 or higher |
| SRMR | .053 | .08 or lower |
χ²(694) = 1369.56, p < .001. Because the χ² test is sensitive to sample size, approximate fit indices were reviewed as well. Error correlations were allowed for two pairs of items with similar wording (Execution items 3 and 4, Loneliness items 1 and 2). All standardized loadings were between .64 and .89, above the .5 threshold.
07
The names differ a little from the study
Same content, but on screen we use names that are easier to read.
| In the study | In ABLE |
|---|---|
| Entrepreneurial ability | Ability |
| Entrepreneurial demotivation (bother) | Burden |
| Entrepreneurial loneliness | Loneliness |
| Entrepreneurial execution | Execution |
| 39-item scale | 12-item short form |
Demotivation means the feeling that tasks become a hassle and get put off. ABLE names it after where that feeling comes from: the burden of priorities, paperwork, and shifting roles.
08
How the 12 ABLE items were chosen
We picked three items per area so that each area covers different situations.
- Abilityspotting opportunities, working with others, explaining ideas
- Burdensetting priorities, paperwork, shifting roles
- Lonelinessdeciding alone, feeling left out in communities, no peers to share ideas with
- Executionaction plans, steady follow-through, fixing things when stuck
Checked with the same data
| Area | Reliability | Correlation with the remaining items |
|---|---|---|
| Ability | .82 | .89 |
| Burden | .80 | .85 |
| Loneliness | .76 | .82 |
| Execution | .75 | .84 |
(internal reanalysis by The Field Player, 2026)
09
How to read your results
- Each area score is the average of your answers on a 1 to 7 scale.
- We also show where you fall among the 253 people (Top 10%, Top 25%, Above the middle, Below the middle, Bottom 25%).
- For Burden and Loneliness, a higher score means you experience more of it. It is not good or bad.
- Each sentence in your reading shows its source, and suggestions without a source are marked as practical suggestions.
10
Limits to keep in mind
- The reference group is employees, so it may differ from a group made up only of founders.
- The short form was checked with the same data and has not yet been tested on a new sample.
- It is a self-report test, so results can shift with how you feel that day.
- It does not judge whether you are suited to starting a business or likely to succeed.
References
- Kim, T.-E., & Shin, I.-H. (2025, April). A study on measuring entrepreneurial competency and developing an evaluation scale [Conference presentation, in Korean]. 2025 Spring Conference of The Korea Entrepreneurship Society, Seoul Startup Hub Gongdeok, Seoul, Republic of Korea.